A Little Goes a Long Way: Highly Mobile Military-Connected Parents' and Students' Perspectives on School Supports for School Transitions

Background: Military-connected (MC) students in the United States change schools almost three times more often than their civilian peers, attending an average of 6 to 9 schools between kindergarten and high school graduation. Yet, few studies have examined MC parents’ views about school transitions and the role of school supports in making those transitions. To address these gaps, we conducted a qualitative study in which we interviewed MC parents and students to explore: (a) their school transition experiences; (b) students’ academic and social-emotional well-being within the school context; (c) parents’ and children’s sense of school connectedness; and (d) the perceived value of school supports.

Methods: Participants were 40 MC families enrolled in a larger, longitudinal study examining school supports for active-duty military families enrolled in a civilian public school district located near a large U.S. military installation. The study involved two successive cohorts of 3^rd and 5^th grade MC students. Average student age was 9.7 years (SD = 1.1). Students had experienced an average of 3.5 school changes since kindergarten (SD = 0.9; range: 2-6). Fifty-five percent of the children identified as White, 12.5% Black, 10% Latinx, 10% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 5% Native American. One-time, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were completed via recorded Zoom call. A multi-step, thematic analysis was conducted to examine families’ experiences with school transitions and school connectedness.

Results: Analyses indicated that MC parents and students were generally resilient when it came to weathering frequent moves. However, families expressed some common concerns as well as barriers they encountered to a smooth transition. Parents were mainly concerned about getting children settled into appropriate classes and activities and establishing good communication with the school. Students were more focused on making new friends. Military-specific supports, such as lunch groups for MC students or MC parent gatherings, were noted as helpful by some. However, for the most part, school supports described as most helpful were those likely to benefit any student making school transitions, especially when the transition occurs in the middle of the school year. These include school tours, meeting teachers prior to school entry, and pairing newly arriving MC students with a classmate “buddy.” Importantly, MC parents emphasized not wanting their children to be “singled out” as military. Yet, they also spoke about their desire for schools to be more flexible when responding to curricular differences between schools, and the need for children to miss school to spend time with a parent returning from deployment and other military-related assignments.

Conclusions: Our findings have important implications for how schools and school districts support MC families during their recurring school transitions. Greater consistency across schools regarding academic curricula and special education services could ease many of the logistical hurdles MC parents encounter. Also meaningful are schools’ efforts to demonstrate a willingness to truly see and flexibly support MC students and families. This can involve a range of efforts, both large and small.